Express.JS as an Effective Backend Web Development Technology

Express.JS has over the years evolved into a leading robust backend technology for web app development. It caters to every important aspect of backend through a range of extensive services and features. 

The first step for any web app development project is adopting a good backend technology while catering for the requirements of the type of organization, development practices, and target audience. Node.JS had been one of most popular server-side, JavaScript-based runtime environment which was used as a massive open-source tool. It promised high performance, scalable framework, and simple-to-understand architecture.

Node.JS-based framework, Express.JS, has quickly become a favourite among developers owing to its ability to enhance the backend capability of any project. Express.JS development services have been specially formulated to create real-time architecture for single page applications and websites. 

An Overview of Express.JS

Express.JS is one of the most popular server-side frameworks built for Node.JS. It is written in JavaScript which is a commonly used programming language. Express.JS is a part of the MEAN, MERV, and the MERN stacks. It provides a plethora of plugins, templates, code, routing functionalities, etc. to aid web development. The framework even allows third-party integration of libraries and features that Express.JS developers use for making customization easier.

Express.JS can be used to make the following types of apps:

  • Single-page apps
  • Reusable apps
  • Enterprise web applications
  • RESTful APIs
  • E-commerce Web Applications

Why Hire Express.JS Developers?

Companies prefer to hire Express.JS developers for their projects as there are many benefits of using Express.JS. These benefits include:

1. Lesser Development Time

Express.JS makes use of JavaScript for both backend as well as front-end development. Since JavaScript is the most common programming language that every developer is well-versed with, the codes can be generated faster.

2. Effective Error Handling

Express.JS has a middleware that is built to support error detection in synchronous and asynchronous codes.

3. Handling I/O Requests

Express.JS is the best option for businesses that receive requests and notifications from users on a daily basis. 

4. Unopinionated Framework

The middleware packages in case of Express.JS can be leveraged in any way that is convenient for the business owner. Express does not levy any strict rules when it comes to dealing with specific tasks.

5. Easy to Install

Express.JS is a minimalistic framework. This implies that it is easy to install, set-up, and learn. These characteristics make the framework suitable for beginnerswho only have a basic working knowledge of backend development.

How Espress.JS is ideal for backend web development

Performance and Speed of Express.JS

Performance and speed are two of the most important considerations when it comes to building big projects. Express.JS is well known for the speed that it delivers when it comes to Node.JS applications. Interestingly, an Express.JS program can handle around 11,000 requests per second. Speed of an app really impresses users and they gravitate towards apps that give them instant results and save their time. 

Flexibility

Flexibility to avoid the enforcement of architecture and guidelines is another factor that is very important for users when developing an app. Express.JS does not require specific architecture which gives the Express.JS developers the liberty to choose their own structure for their web apps.The MVC (Model-View-Controller) mode is the most preferred and commonly used architecture type for Express apps. 

Scalability

The framework used for an app is usually responsible for influencing the scalability of the web application. Therefore, the choice of framework is very important and should be done after thorough research. Express.JS, just like Node.JS, is quite flexible owing to a number of features that it derives from the latter. The presence of non-blocking servers ensures that user requests are handled in a better fashion. The scalability factor of Express.JS makes it possible for developers to use it for the development of lightweight, large-scale applications. 

Ease of Testing

Every developer wants their app to work glitch-free in a continuous, high-load, and ever-growing market. In order to achieve this, a series of tests are done on the app before it is launched. These tests check if the app is compliant with the UI standards and is compatible and usable in all circumstances. Just like in the case of Node.JS,there are a number of defined best practices for conducting tests on Express.JS apps. Various testing frameworks like Mocha, Jest, and Ava when combined with libraries such as Supertest or Chai can easily automate APIs and middleware tests in an Express.JS app.

Microservices Architecture Compatibility

Microservices are used to build the smaller parts of services and code modules in an app. Just as Node.JS is extremely suitable for developing scalable apps adept at handling multiple concurrent requests, so is Express.JS. Express.JS lends an unopinionated structure to apps that allows it to combine with a microservice architecture. Thus, the scalability as well as the performance of the app are both improved. 

Database Support

Express.JS is a minimalist framework. This is why database integration is not one of its core features. It does not promote the use of a particular framework and an Express.JS developer needs to simply load a Node.JS driver in the app to connect with a database. In such a case, any database, whether it is MongoDB, Oracle, SQL Server, or even CouchDB, can be used for the app.

How Big is the Community Around Express?

As Express.JS is one of the most popular frameworks used around the world, its open-source community is constantly involved in reviewing and improving its code. The technical community meets on a regular basis to discuss development and maintenance issues faced by developers. This is how the framework is kept current and in excellent working condition. 

Hiring Express.JS developers with extensive knowledge of backend development is relatively easy. They are hired for a wide variety of application development, including:

  • Applications that need to be scaled-up or made to handle multiple user-requests on a regular basis. 
  • Real-time applications that leverage the non-blocking Express servers.
  • Applications that have millions of users sharing images or other multimedia files.
  • Applications that allow multiple users to sign-up simultaneously and access the content in the app.
  • Applications that allow users to register for domains and access hosting services.

Thus, Express.JS is a versatile framework that is very much in vogue amongst business owners and developers alike.